Cefalù Cathedral
the chystro

Squaring the circle

Entering the cloister of Cefalù Cathedral not only means plunging into a path steeped in medieval art that seems to reawaken the different decorative motifs animating the capitals of the columns as we pass, but also being pervaded by an architecture of light.
In accordance with Christian symbolism, it is oriented so that each of its spaces is illuminated in a different way, following the orientation of the sun.
Following its itinerary, made up of the transcendence of the circle inserted in the immanence of the square, we are invited to embark on a spiritual journey of purification that begins where the light sets, symbolically linked to Adam and the Old Testament, and then reaches the New Testament dimension, pervaded by the radiance of the incarnation and the promise. Even the plants arranged in the garden have always represented an ascetic message, capable of enveloping those who walk through it in a sense of theophany that unfolds along the way.

From the main gate to the aisles: an invitation to a journey of faith

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The architectural modifications ti the cathedral building after the death of Roger II and the transformations of the cloister

The mosaics of the apses

Thirteenth-century iconography decorates the nave’s wooden ceiling, designed with new solutions

Transformations over the centuries

Squaring the circle

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

A controversial interpretation

The Cefalù cathedral: a construction yard undergoing a change between a surge of faith and control over the territory

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The side Portico: a combination of elegance and lightness of form

The senses tell Context 1

A space between the visible and the invisible

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

Interior decorations

Worship services

Tempus fugit: a strategic project implemented in a short period of time

The longest aisle

The king’s mark

A tree full of life

The Chapel of the Kings

Beyond the harmony of proportions

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Ecclesia munita

Under the crosses of the Bema

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The side aisles

The cemetery of kings

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

A new Cathedral

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The chapel of St. Benedict

The cultural substrate through time

The balance between architecture and light

A Northern population

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The plasticism of the main portico and Bonanno Pisano’s Monumental Bronze Door

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The Bible carved in stone

The towers and the western facade

The lost chapel

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Palermo: the happiest city

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Roger II’s strategic design

The southern portico

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The columns of the nave: the meticulous study of the overall order

The original design

The Great Restoration

The marble portal: an intimate dialogue between complex ornamental aspects and formal structure

A palimpsest of history

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The paradisiacal “Conca d’oro” that embraces Palermo: a name with countless faces through time

The Cathedral over the centuries

The mosaics of the presbytery

The rediscovered chapel

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

A compositional design that combines nordic examples with new artistic languages, over the centuries

The area of the Sanctuary

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

Biblical themes enlivened by the dazzling light of the stained – glass windows overlooking the naves

The chapel of the crucifix: an artistic casket based on a previous model

The decorated facade

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The stone bible

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Mosaic decoration

The Virgin Hodegetria

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The beginning of the construction site

Survey of the royal tombs

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The links between the hauteville family and the monastic orders in Sicily

A remarkable ceiling